Desperate for action, Abraham Lincoln calls a meeting of the Army of the Potomac’s top brass without General-in-Chief George B. McClellan.

Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
Desperate for action, Abraham Lincoln calls a meeting of the Army of the Potomac’s top brass without General-in-Chief George B. McClellan.
The U.S. Senate approves a measure creating a joint House-Senate military oversight committee whose investigative methods quickly prove controversial.
The second session of the first Republican-dominated Congress opened with many intent on destroying slavery as a means to win the war.
Abraham Lincoln calls upon new General-in-Chief George B. McClellan, who refuses to see him. This symbolizes the evolving relationship between Lincoln and McClellan.
The Federal defeat at Ball’s Bluff outrages northerners, sends the Lincolns into mourning, and increases calls for an “all-out war” against the Confederacy.
Abraham Lincoln reluctantly signs a bill into law allowing Federal commanders to seize slaves from people supporting the Confederacy.